Necktie rack



July 9, 1935. A. R. BROTHERS 7,

NECKTIE RACK Filed March 14, 1934 3 j 4 7 $2 i g g .8 g g l /.9- g Q Q Q 8 c Q O F m g F 0 Q l\) 0 INVENTOR. flbe E fi/rofhers ATTORNEY.

Patented July 9, 1935 2,007,636 NECKTIE RACK "Abe R. Brunei-s, nrdokl yn, N. Y1 Application March 14, 1934', Serial No. 715,423

S CIaims. (Cl. 211- 8?) 7 This invention relates to necktie racks and, more particularly, to racks wherein a large num ber of ties may be supported in readily accessible positions.

been extensively known, but those previously suggested have beenopen to numerous disadvantages which itis the purpose of the present invention to overcome. For example, tie racks, as hereto= fore made,-have been so constructed that ties were adapted to be supported thereon in a confused state as to color, size, etc., so that when the intended user desired a tie to wear with a particular suit of clothes, in order to produce the 1 desired color combination, it was necessary to sort overall of the ties on the rack in order to obtain one of the desiredcolor or one best suited ,for the occasion. One objectof the present invention is to provide a simple and convenient means wherein the P ties supported on the rack are arranged or segregatedin accordance with the primary colors ofthe spectrum of the light, the ties being adapt-'- ed to be arranged with their predominating col-' 2 ors or shades so segregated that a choicev of the proper tie may be readily made without look ing through all of the ties on the rack.

A further object of the inventionis to provide a novel construction for supporting ties 307 upon a. suitable backing board orthe like, so that the ties may be individually supported in such manner as not to inadvertently be disengaged from the rack, but to provide nevertheless for easy, manual removal or replacement of a tie on the rack. I

A- further object of the invention is to provide a rackwhich will supporta large number of ties-in an extremely compact manner, with each and every tie visible to an observer.

A still further object of the invention is'to provide novel and efficient means for supporting the ties individually in a manner to preclude undue wear on the tie by the mechanical parts ofthe device and complete freedom of marking 45 of the tie by the elements of the rack oonstruc tion.

Features of the invention, other than those Racks of this general character have heretofore Figure 1 is a front elevation of a necktie racl embodying the present invention.

vFigure 21s a section on the line 22 of Fig ure 1.

Figure 3is a fragmental perspective View showing one end portion of the rack illustrated in Fig ure 1. .7 Figures 4 and 5 show modifiedforms of hold irig pins which may be employed to support neck ties individually. I Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 3, butshowing a modified form of construction.

. Referring first to Figures 1-5- of the drawing, thedevice of this invention is therein shown as comprising a backing board I, which may be of any desired shape, of any size appropriate to thenumber. of neckties for which it is desired to provide and may be constructed from any. suit-'1 able material, plain or ornamented, and have. ing squaramolded or beveled edges as desired.

.While not limiting the invention inthis regard,

12 preferably, however, make the backing board or wood andemploy cedar wood, plain,-'becaus'e or the pleasing odor and attractive appearance,

of this material. i.

v The backing board I is provided with appropriate means to hang the same from a suitable support and this means may conveniently partake of the'ior'm of a screw eye 2 screwed into the upper edge of the board. TohoId-the board away from the wall or other supportingsurface, I preferably attach to the back of the board rubber headed tacks or. buttons 3, locating thesame at the four corners of the board, so that they may rest against a supporting surface to space the board therefrom,-.keeping the tie rack leveland to preclude damage to such surface. Theyiurthermore space the board f-rom the wall to addthickness to the lioard' and keep the ties away from the wall, and at the same time when 40,

cedar 'wood' is used, the spacing of the board,

as stated, permits the odor to" more readily'es cape from the back of the board.

Associated with the front of the board are a plurality of supporting membersarran'ged in- 45,

cooperative rel'ati'oiito one another in groups of two or more. These groups may be disposed: in various ways and my eiiperience has shown the best results are obtained when the tie supporting members are arranged in vertical rows, the. 501

members of each row being spaced with respect" to one another to properly cooperate in holding a tie in position and the rows being spaced a sunicient distance apart to preclude the ties mounted on one row of supports from interfereing with the ties on the next adjacent row of supports. I may, moreover, use any appropriate number of rows of supports, but I find it convenient and thoroughly practical to make definite provision for ties of the six more common primary colors of the spectrum, although this number may be increased or diminished if desired. The colors which I prefer to provide for are red, blue, brown, gray, green and lavender. Ties of the two latter colors are not extensively worn and consequently, in the preferred form of the construction, five rows of supports are provided which are designated, respectively, 4, 5, 6, I and 8. The rows 4, 5, I and 8 are intended to support ties predominating in red, blue, brown or gray, respectively, while the row 6 may serve to support the green and lavender ties, as, for example, providing for the upper half of the row 6 to support green ties and the lower half to support lavender ties. Experience has shown that this arrangement is thoroughly satisfactory in practice, although I wish it understood that more or less and different colors or shades than those referred to may be provided for.

The individual supporting members, a plurality of which constitute the respective rows 4-8, may be constructed in various ways, but, fundamentally, they involve the employment of a member having a head and a shank. The head is so constructed as not to damage fine fabrics when brought in contact therewith and of suchsize that, when the heads are spaced apart, an appropriate distance, hereinafter described, the shanks will be spaced a somewhat greater distance with the spacing of the latter sufllcient to. permit a protective sleeve to be associated therewith, while leaving the spacing between adjacent sleeves greater than the spacing between adjacent heads.

Figures 1-3 show a very satisfactory arrangement. In accordance with the showing of these figures, I employ wire nails, each of which is provided with a shank 9 pointed .at one end and having a head at its opposite end. The head is preferably of spherical form or rounded in such manner as to present no rough edges. For conventional four-in-hand ties, the shank should be approximately 2% inches in length and should be sufficiently heavy to afford the desired strength. It may be resilientor not as desired. The pointed end of each nail is adapted to be driven into the board I for a distance of about inch, prior to which there is slipped over the shank of the nail a protective sleeve for I may conveniently use varnishedwoven cotton tubing or. sleeving II of the character commonly known as.fspaghetti. This material is a well known commercial product, marketed in various colors and particularly useful in this connection as presently explained. Furthermore this material has a highly polished smooth surface which cannot harm the most delicate fabrics.

When utilizing the nail construction referred to, the nails are driven into the board. in vertlcal rows, as shown, in such manner that the handltieis approximately midway of .its length;

so that in placing ties on a rack, each tie is forced between the heads I of adjacent supports, which allow the tie to pass between them into the space between the adjacent sleeves II. If the shanks are of resilient character, the heads may be spaced closer together or be made larger whereas if the shanks are rigid the heads should be spaced at such distance that the tie may be passed between the heads by exerting slight pressure on the tie insufficient to damage the tie, but suiiicient to preclude inadvertent retrograde movement of the tie. By making the shanks of a length slightly, though not materially in excess of the narrow portion of the tie, the ties cannot slide longitudinally from between the sleeves as relatively little movement in this direction will shift a wider portion of the tie into wedging engagement between the heads and the board and preclude further movement of the tie in this direction.

Ten supports are shown in each row and thus each row provides for the support of nine ties. Accordingly, in the structure, as shown with five rows, provision is made for supporting forty-five ties in properly retained'relation to the rack. When nine ties are supported on each of two adjacent rows of supports, as stated, the superimposed ties will overlap one another and build up a lateral thickness equal to the aggregate thickness of the ties and consequently the lateral adjacent rows of supports 4, 5, 6,1 and 8 should be spaced apart distances equal to at least twice the aggregate thickness of the ties to be supported on any one row, in order to preclude interference of the ties in one row with those on the next adjacent row or rows and to permit also anypar: ticulartie to be observed and individually .re-

moved.

Reference to nails I to serve the function of supporting members is illustrative and it will be understood that other forms of support may be employed in this connection. vThus, by way of example, Figures 4 and show modified forms of construction.

In Figure 4, a screw eye is substituted for the nail. The screw eye has a rounded curled end I2 forming a head equivalent to the head of the nail. The shank I3 corresponds to the shank 9 of the nail and is provided at its end with a screw threaded portion I4, whereby the screw eyes may be attached by screwing them into the board instead of driving them, as in the case of nails. The shank I3 may be rigid or resilient and is provided with an envelope or sleeve II of protective material as in Figure 2.

The structure shown in Figure 4 is illustrated on a larger scale than in Figure 2, but, in practice, the parts would be of substantially the same size.

According to the further modified structure of Figure 5, a nail having a shank 9a of substantially the same length as the shank 9, but without a head, is driven into the board I and is surrounded with a close fitting protective sleeve I I which projects beyond the outer end of the shank. The head of the support is in the form of a ring I5 embracing the projecting end of the sleeve I I and a screw I6 is screwed into the outer end of the sleeve to expand it within the ring I5 for the purpose of attaching the ring to the sleeve and permitting the ring to function as a head to the supporting member. The ring I5 may be of any appropriate shape, ornamental or otherwise, and may be of any appropriate material.

One advantage of the structure of Figure 5 2,007,636 that the Shanna may b rigid and yet the head 15 will be-resiliently or yieldably mounted with respect to theshank sincethe sleeve H is of resilient material. j y f As hereinbefore'stat'ed, one primary object of this invention to segregate ties 'of different colors in a manner to permit them to be readily selected by the intended user, and it-is for this purpose that thesupportsare arranged in rows be associated therewith. Thisfeature of the in- Vention may of course be carried out in various ways. For example, the board l maybe left in its natru-al state or may be varnished, enameled, stained in any single color throughout, and at the head of each row a thumb tack of appropriate colormay be pressed into the board so as to be readily discernible. 1 a

As an alternative form). all of the supporting members may be covered with tubing or sleeves of one color and the heads of the nails, screw eyes or the like may be colored in accordance with the ties to be associatedtherewith. Furthermore, all the nails, screw eyes or the like may be covered with sleeves of different colors appropriate to the ties to be associated therewith, while the heads of these supporting members maybe all the same color. Furthermore, both" the heads and the sleeves of theseveral supports maybe colored appropriate to theties to be associated therewith. It is also within the purview of-this invention to dispense with the tubingor sleeves II, and color the supports throughout according to the ties to be associatedtherewith.

In enumerating the foregoing methods of marking for color, these are given by Way of ex ampleandany onemethod of marking for color may be used or a combination thereof may be employed if desired. .The underlying feature of the invention in this connection is that there is a clear distinction of color to show the user where ties of similar color are to be mounted on the rack in order to be properly segregated in a manner to permit easy selection when desired.

The structure shown in Figure 6 may be made in any of the ways hereinbefore described, but differs therefrom merely in that the board I, instead of being made in one piece and supported by a screw eye 2, as shown in Figure 1. is cut into longitudinal sections la, 2a, etc. with a row of supports on each section and these several sections are suspended on a rod I 7, supported on suitable brackets 8 with spacers l9 interposed between the respective sections la, 2a, etc. One of the purposes of this showing is to illustrate that the backing is adapted for numerous variations in form without departing from this invention.

In the structure of Figure 6, as I have made it, the several sections la, 2a, etc are colored wholly in the color appropriate to the particular row of supports carried thereby. The resulting structure is particularly pleasing in appearance and is such as to positively obviate any possibility of incorrect placement of ties on the rack.

be not only circular but polygonal.

In' the foregoing detailed description, the supporting members have been shown in the form of nails with spherical heads, in the form of screws with eyelet heads, and in the form of nails with attached cylindrical heads. These showings, K

however, are to be understood as illustrative, for it will be apparent that the screw eye shown may be adapted to be driven instead of screwed into the backing board, while the nails shown may be threaded to screw into the board. Similarly, the heads employed on the various supporting mem bers may differ within wide limits. They may They may be tapered instead of spherical. In fact, they may be of any appropriate shape provided thatthey form between adjacent heads a relatively constricted opening through which the tie may be snugly slipped in order to restupon shanks spaced'a somewhat further distance apart. The present invention is therefore not limited to heads of particular shapes, or shanks, either screwed or driven, as the invention contemplates generally the use of supporting members with shanks and heads of any appropriate shape and the present invention is to be so construed.

The device of the present invention is relatively simple in construction and it possesses numerous advantages; It may be economically manufactured and may be constructed for a wide, va-- riety of sizes appropriate to support almost any number of ties without becoming unnecessarily bulky. It has the advantage that the ties cannot possibly become inadvertently displaced from the rack and yet they are all supported in readily accessible positions for individual removal or replacement and in a manner so that every tie on the rack can be seen.

The foregoing detailed description sets forth the invention in certain preferred illustrative practical forms, but the invention is to be understood as fully commensurate with the ap pended claims.

Having thus fully described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is;

1. A necktie rack comprising a suitable backing board provided thereon with supporting members, each of which comprises a shank and a coaxial head, the heads of adjacent supporting members being spaced apart a distance less than the thickness of a tie to permit a tie to be snugly slipped therebetween and the shanks being parallel to one another and perpendicular to the backing board and spaced apart a distance greater than the spacing of the heads and greater than the thickness of the tie, whereby untied ties may be introduced between the heads of adjacent supporting members and retained free from pressure between adjacent shanks.

2. A necktie rack comprising a suitable backing board'provided thereon with supporting members, each of which comprises a shank and a coaxial head, yieldable protective sleeves enveloping the shanks of said supporting members between the backing board and the head and of less diameter than said heads to protect the ties from contact with the shanks, the heads of' adjacent supporting members being spaced apart a distance to permit a tie to be snugly slipped therebetween and the shanks being parallel to one another and perpendicularto the board, and spaced apart a of adjacent supporting members, are retained free from pressure between adjacent shanks.

3. A'necktie rack comprising a suitable backing board provided thereon with supporting members, each of which comprises a shank perpendicular-to the board and a coaxial head, the heads of adjacent supporting members I being a spaced apart a distance to permit a tie to be snugly slipped therebetween and-the shanks being parallel to one another and spaced apart adistance greater than the spacing of the heads and greater thanthe thickness of the tie, whereby ties may be introduced between the heads of adjacentsupp'ortingmembers and retained free from pressure between adjacent shanks, the shanks beingo'f such length that the distance from the face of the backing board to the heads is greater than the minimum width of the tie and less than the maximum width of the tie. v

4. A necktie rack embodying a backing board provided thereon with parallel, spaced apart, necktie supporting members, each of which comprisesa shank, one end of which is driven into the board, a yieldable protective sleeve embracing the shank and projecting beyond the outer end thereof, a head ring embracing the projecting portion of the sleeve, and an expansion member extending into the outer end of the sleeve to expand the latter into gripping engagement with the head ring.

5. A necktie rack comprising a suitable backing board provided thereon with supporting members, each of which comprises a shank and a coaxial head, the heads of adjacent supporting members being spaced apart a distance less than the thickness of a tie topermit a tie to be snugly slipped therebetween and the shanks being. parallel to one another and spaced aparta distance greater than the spacing of the heads and greater than the thickness of the tie, whereby untied ties may be introduced between the heads of adjacent supporting members and retained free from pressure between adjacent shanks. i

6. A necktie rack comprising a suitable backing board provided thereon with supporting members, each of which comprises a shank and'a coaxial head, protective sleeves enveloping the shanks of bers beingspaced apart a distance'to permit a :tie toegbe'snugly slipped therebetween and the shanks being parallel to one another, and spaced apart a distance-sufliciently greater than the spacing'of theheads, thatties, introduced between Ethe heads of adjacent supporting members, are retained ;freefrom pressure ,between adjacent shanks.

v'7. A'necktie rack comprising a backing board providedthereon with a plurality of vertically disposed,,laterally spaced :apart rows of supporting members projecting forwardly from the front face of the board, each ofsaid supporting members having a shank and a. coaxial head, with the adjacent headset the supporting members of each vertical row spacedlapart a distance less than the thickness of. a tie to permit a tie to be snugly slipped'therebetween and :with the corresponding shanks spaced-apart a distance greater than the spacing of theheads and greater than the thickness of the -tie,--whereby untied ties may be introduced-between the.heads of. vertically adjacent supporting members and retained free from pressure between the adjacent shanks thereof.

8. .A necktierack'comprising a suitable backing board. provided thereon. with supporting members, each of which comprises a shankand a coaxial head, rotatable protective sleeves enveloping the shanks of said supporting members between the backing boardandtheheadand of less diameter than-said heads to. protect the ties from contact with the shanks the heads of adjacent supporting members being spaced apart a distance to permit a tievto behsnugly slipped therebetween and the=shanks being parallel to one another andper-pendicular to. the board, and spaced apart a distanceesufllciently'greater than the spacing .ofthefihead that .ties,..introduced between the heads of adjacent supporting members, are retained :free from pressure between adjacent shanks I ABE R. BROTHERS. 

